Stalker
The stalker is a Dark Templar cybernetic war machine unit in StarCraft II. Overview The fall of Aiur demonstrated to the Dark Templar that more than just stealth and guile were required to defeat the zerg. Hence, the Dark Templar developed the stalker, a war machine inspired by the Khalai dragoon. While dragoons were piloted by crippled protoss, the stalker was controlled by the shadow-essence of a Dark Templar warrior fused into a metal body. The new walkers were armed with carapace-mounted particle disruptors adept against both ground and aerial targets.Blizzard Entertainment (2007-05-19). Stalker. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2007-09-06. Stalkers were credited with many fantastic powers upon their battlefield début. However, only one was witnessed consistently: an ability to instantly teleport, or "blink", from one spot to another. The improved mobility thus granted allowed the stalker to conduct ambushes, catch fleeing foes, and generally engage on their own terms. Game Unit thumb|left|The stalker (early render) In-game, stalkers function like fragile, but more agile dragoons. They serve as excellent economy raiders.Zetaras Xal'Kurat. 2008-03-16. StarCraft 2 Korean and Chinese Build Summary. SC2 Blog. Accessed 2008-03-18. Stalkers can dance like a dragoon,Karune. 2008-07-16. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 41. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-07-16. moving injured stalkers away from opponents when they are being attacked by melee attackers or targeted by focus fire. Blinking can also be used as an alternative form of dancing. In large groups, stalkers can use Blink to instantly teleport to an important enemy unit's position – such as a queen, and destroy it with focus fire.Blizzcon Video Archive (Sonkie vs Yellow). Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2008-10-19. Stalkers gained a reputation for being overpowered at BlizzCon 2008 due to the widely viewed Sonkie vs Yellow match. Karune responded that stalkers are weak vs zerglings even with Blink micro, but are strong against armored units such as roaches. Stalkers do well against units with low damage per second (such as roaches) but weakly against more offensive units (such as zerglings).Stalkers still fall to large groups of Zerglings in terms of cost, even with Blink micro. Although, with the additional micro, especially while also using terrain to your advantage, a Protoss player will definitely be able to at least fight a group of Zerglings, rather than being forced to retreat. In the Sonkie/Yellow game 1, the Blinking micro definitely kept his Stalkers alive longer, though force firing would have ended that battle in the Protoss favor as well, since the Stalker has bonus damage towards armored units like the Roach. Zerglings are still definitely the best counter against Stalkers from the Zerg side, especially since the improved pathing system allows them to get to their ordered locations faster and are able to surround more efficiently. The cooldown for Blink is perfect in saving Stalkers from death against Roaches which have a much lower rate of dps than Zerglings. Against Zerglings, the cooldown is not fast enough, similar to the announcement video of the Protoss race when the Stalkers were first introduced. Karune. 2008-10-14. Re: Stalkers seem imba (page 3). Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-10-14. Stalkers are strong against reapers, void rays, and roaches, but weak against marauders, immortals, and zerglings. Abilities Upgrades Quotations :Main article: StarCraft II Quotations Development The stalker was re-designed to more closely look like the concept art, and the new model was revealed at Blizzcon 2008.Karune. 2008-07-16. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 43. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-07-16. Trivia The stalker shares identical quotations with the satyr units from Warcraft III. References Category:Featured Articles Category:StarCraft II Protoss units